This invention generally relates to small watercrafts principally used for recreational and fishing purposes. More specifically, the watercraft of this invention relates to a personal boat of the pontoon variety which can be readily assembled at the site of use and disassembled for easy transporting within the trunk of an automobile.
Personal watercrafts having a one or two person seating capacity, hereinafter generally referred to as boats, are increasingly becoming popular for not only well known leisure activities, such as fishing and recreational boating, and also as an alternative form of exercise. In recent years, the market for these personal boats has increased and, in response thereto, so has the variety of personal boats available. While some of these boats have general appeal, others are specialized versions targeted at specific activity markets including fishing, exercise and adventure travel.
In the general leisure activities market, personal boats typically have been provided with a hard exterior shell or hull having a flat, V-shaped or catamaran construction. When compared to traditional boats, the personal boats have been manufactured on a reduced scale so as to enable them to be transported on top of a vehicle, in a pick-up truck bed or on a small trailer. Transoms for mounting small gasoline engines or electric trolling motors, as well as hardware for the use of oars or paddle wheels, have been provided to power the boats. Personal boats targeted for the exercise/adventure market typically are of the single shell design as used in kayaking and the sculls used in the sport of crew. More recent designs, however, have incorporated a pair of hard shells or sculls in a variation of the catamaran. The variants power the boat by oars or a paddle wheel connected by a continuous chain to a set of pedals. Some more recent innovations have included the substitution of a propeller in place of the paddle wheel and enclosing the chain drive system within a housing for increased durability.
While the various boats have to one degree or another worked well in terms of their operation on the water, one lingering problem with these prior designs is that they are not easily transported by an individual to the site of use because they do not "breakdown". If they are of the "breakdown" variety, the hulls and other components still require a relatively large amount of storage space. The difficulty in transporting one of these boats arises from both the weight of the boat and the awkwardness with which the boat or its components are manipulated onto or off of the transporting vehicle or having to utilize a trailer.
For the above reasons, personal boat manufacturers have long desired to produce a boat which is not only lightweight and easily transported, but which also requires a minimum amount of storage space when not in use. Additionally, the boat should contain other qualities which will make the personal boat more popular. Namely, the boat must be inexpensive, stable, durable, nimble, small in overall size, compact when disassembled and adapted for human powering.
With the above limitations and desires in mind, it is an object of the present invention to provide a personal boat which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art while meeting the needs of the personal boating consumer and manufacturer. In particular, it is an object of this invention to provide for a personal boat which is light enough in weight to be carried by a single person. A related object of the invention is that the boat must be easy to manipulate so that an individual can readily transport it with a variety of vehicles.
In making the boat easy to load and transport, another object of this invention has been to provide a boat which requires a minimum amount of space for transporting and storage. To this end, it has been yet another object of this invention to provide a "packable" watercraft. As used herein, the term "packable" is intended to mean that the boat can be stored and transported in a disassembled condition, readily assembled at the water's edge prior to use and readily disassembled after use for further transporting or storage of the boat. When disassembled, it is an object of the invention for the boat to fit within the trunk of an automobile.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a personal boat which is extremely stable, highly durable, very nimble yet small in overall size during use.
A further object is to provide a personal boat which is inexpensive to produce and maintain and which can be manually powered by one or more individuals riding within the boat. While not specifically intended to operate as an exercise apparatus, the personal boat of the present invention, when powered manually, would provide a marked degree of physical exercise to the individual or individuals. By manually powering the boat, it is another object of this invention to provide the boat with a propulsion mechanism which is quiet, dependable and has no service requirements. By making the boat quiet, nimble, and easily transportable, the present invention will have particular utility for fishing on small impoundments or ponds that are generally otherwise inaccessible to boats.
In achieving the above and other objects, the personal boat of the present invention is a lightweight packable boat whose features are all designed to enable the boat to be readily assembled and disassembled at the site of use. In achieving its small size, lightweight and packability, the boat of the present invention includes a pair of spaced apart inflatable pontoons. The pontoons provide a high degree of stability to the boat and are maintained apart by a lightweight frame that is removably mounted to the pontoons. The frame itself is constructed from metal rails broken down into three sections enabling easy assembly and disassembly. A detachable seat is mounted to the frame, generally between the pontoons in a position which will allow the user of the boat to operate both the propulsion and steering mechanisms.
The propulsion mechanism is a self-contained unit having a propeller that is shaft driven by a pair of pedals. The propulsion mechanism is removably mounted to the frame at a location between the pontoons and is easily accessed by an individual sitting in the seat. Preferably, the pedals of the propulsion mechanism are mounted toward the front of the boat and the propeller is located rearwardly thereof, generally below the boat's occupant.
The steering mechanism is also removably mounted to the frame and includes a handle positioned adjacent to the seat. The handle enables direct manipulation of a rudder located between the pontoons generally at the rear of the boat. Preferably, the steering mechanism requires only one hand for operation leaving the other hand of the boat's occupant free. The combination of the boat's lightweight, inflatable pontoons, breakdown frame, manually operated propeller and rudder make the boat easily transportable and easy to use.
Additional benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention relates from the subsequent description of the preferred embodiments and the appended claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.